Editorial: Nothing 'free' in Pike deal

Friday

Jan 23, 2009 at 12:01 AMJan 23, 2009 at 10:23 PM

The good news is the Mass. Turnpike Authority board didn't vote to increase tolls at its meeting last week, giving the Legislature and governor time to come up with a transportation reform package that doesn't put an undeserved burden on Pike commuters. The bad news is that the new Pike management apparently thinks toll-payers are stupid.

The good news is the Mass. Turnpike Authority board didn't vote to increase tolls at its meeting last week, giving the Legislature and governor time to come up with a transportation reform package that doesn't put an undeserved burden on Pike commuters. The bad news is that the new Pike management apparently thinks toll-payers are stupid.

This second conclusion stems from a change in the FastLane system approved by the TPA board. The $25.95 cost of purchasing a FastLane transponder has been discouraging people from using the system, new Pike Chairman James Aloisi told the board, so now the transponders will be given away for "free."

Except that the transponders are not free. Instead, users will be charged 50 cents a month - even those who paid cash for their transponders years ago.

That $6 a year may not seem like a big deal, but there's a principle involved here. Over the 8- to 10-year lifespan of a transponder, the user will pay up to $60 in incremental monthly fees. Instead of making the transponders "free," the TPA more than doubled the price.

FastLane is a great deal for the Pike. A Romney administration study found it costs the Pike 33 cents to handle every transaction with a human toll-taker, but just 7 cents for each electronic transaction. Even if it gave the transponders away, the Pike would recoup its cost in four months.

Instead, the Pike is charging for transponders other states really do give away for free (including the E-ZPass, by the way, which works on the Pike and carries no monthly fee).

The cash-strapped Pike stands to make between $4 million and $5 million per year through this scam, Aloisi said, which is more proof they aren't doing the toll-payers any favors. Sure, the $6 a year is small compared to the near-doubling of Pike tolls the board is still threatening. Just don't call the transponders free.

The MetroWest Daily News

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